Rise in violent crime in Notts

Nottinghamshire continues to keep crime down despite an overall national increase, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics.

There were a total of 72,345 recorded crimes in Nottinghamshire in the 12 months to 31 March 2016, equating to a zero percentage change when compared to the year up to March 2015.

The national figure for England and Wales shows a nine per cent increase in overall crime.

Domestic burglary continues to fall significantly across the force area to 3,372, a 17 per cent fall.

There was a 14 per cent reduction in drugs offences to 3,021 and an 11 per cent fall in theft from the person offences to 1,090.

Robbery also fell by ten per cent to 908 offences.

Bicycle thefts reduced by nine per cent to 1,927 offences.

There were increases in offences including possession of weapons which rose by 27 per cent to 735.

The figures also show the proportion of crimes which involved knives or sharp instruments. A total of 580 offences, around four per cent, of all crimes in Nottinghamshire involved knives of sharp instruments.

The number of recorded sexual offences in Nottinghamshire rose by 10 per cent to 2,075.

Offences of violence rose by ten per cent to 17,822. Of those, 7,641 were non-injury incidents.

The number of anti-social behaviour incidents was 36,752, almost 1,600 fewer than in the previous 12 months and almost a third of the figure reported in 2008/09.

Chief Constable Sue Fish said: “It is pleasing once again to say that Nottinghamshire is bucking the national trend and keeping crime and anti-social behaviour in our force area down.

“It is also important to look at where crime has increased to highlight the work being done by the force and its partners in the local authorities and other emergency services. For example, the increase in possession of weapon offences can be attributed to the focus we have placed on the use of intelligence to identify individuals who carry knives with the intention of committing crime.

“We have a dedicated knife crime team in place and have made our stop and search policy and practice more effective and accountable, enabling us to detect weapon possession and to prevent further offences, but also working hard to improve engagement with our local communities.

“Our zero tolerance approach to all sexual offences means that anyone who reports such a crime knows that we will investigate their case and provide the appropriate support to them all the way through the criminal justice process. The increase in reporting reflects that continuing confidence in our policing and the determination of victims that they should be heard.

She added: “The decline in domestic and commercial burglary, vehicle crime and theft is testament to the excellent work of our neighbourhood policing teams and their response to priorities identified by their local residents.

“The reduction in bike theft is also encouraging and achieved through clear crime prevention messaging, as well as identifying prolific offenders and ensuring that we bring them before the courts.”

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